How well do you know Johnny Cash?
Theatre NorthWest (TNW) is hoping to teach Prince George residents just a little bit more about the music legend through its upcoming winter production of the titled singer.
‘Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Story’ Director Anna Russell, daughter-in-law to Judy Russell, explains she went through several branches of the artist’s life to create a storyline.
“There’s different films and documentaries that are out there, and one of the things I pulled is the reference points of the different autobiographies that he wrote throughout the course of his life and different interviews,” she told PrinceGeorgeMatters.
“He always seems to come back around to this theme of redemption towards the end of his life, so we wanted to play the arc of his life through the different songs we wrote. They’re all very representative of the things he did in his youth, we go through the Grand Ole Opry and Folsom Prison.”
The decision to move forward with this play could be attributed to TNW’s production of ‘Million Dollar Quartet,’ which included a Johnny Cash character among Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lewis.
It turned out to be the most successful in the theatre’s history, seeing over 7,000 people attend the 2018 show between Nov. 22 and Dec. 20.
Russell believes it’s important to keep up with the demand.
“It’s nice to pull from when your audience gives you feedback,” she said, “like that with it being the most successful Theatre NorthWest show ever produced, you kind of keep that train going if that’s what people are interested in seeing and that’s what it seems like so far. We want to show the audience what they’re looking for.”
There are five performers in ‘Ring of Fire’ with no shortage of musical talent, including Prince George’s own Curtis Abriel, who’s wearing a Musical Director’s hat in addition to acting on stage.
Russell rates this production high on the difficulty scale as as there are 10 instruments that will be used throughout the course of the night and playing over 30 of Johnny Cash’s iconic songs like Ring of Fire, Walk the Line and Thing Called Love.
“For the most part, that stress falls down to the musicians on stage. It’s been interesting piecing this together [...] there’s a lot of stage choreography that is not necessarily based on dance, but based on logistics of getting people around the stage and holding the right instruments at the right time.”
Hoping for a successful show, Russell is ecstatic to be working with Theatre NorthWest having acted in and produced dozens of plays locally.
“If you are working in this industry, anywhere you can put your cap in the ring for any kind of opportunity is definitely worthwhile,” she explained. “As most performers, directors or producers could tell you, the more opportunities you get and the more chances you get to say ‘yes’ to something, you absolutely do it. I have three little kids, so I’ve just been waiting to fit that puzzle piece in with Theatre NorthWest and I’m really excited to have that opportunity this time.”
She also hopes the audience will leave tapping their toes, reminisce themselves with their favourite Johnny Cash songs and understand more of what he came to feel at the end of his life.
‘Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Story’ is for all ages and runs Nov. 28 to Dec. 18, 2019 at Theatre NorthWest.
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